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The Experts

Steve Bryant (PhD, Chemical Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin) has led the way in the fields of digital petrophysics and nanoparticles for engineering applications, and has made some of the most significant advances in the past 20 years in porous media modelling, reactive transport theory and CO2 sequestration.

Dr. Sue Hovorka (PhD, Geology, The University of Texas at Austin) has been a researcher at The University of Texas Bureau of Economic Geology since 1981. She brings her expertise in geology and environmental applications to a variety of research areas including: characterization of salt as a containment material, flow in karst aquifers, and field pilot studies of CO2 injection to assess the cost, safety, and effectiveness of geologic sequestration as a mechanism for reducing atmospheric greenhouse gas emissions.

Dr. Carey King (PhD, Mechanical Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin) has been a researcher at The University of Texas Center for International Energy and Environmental Policay since 2008. His work focuses on the nexus of water and energy, with particular expertise in usage, policy, conservation, and education. Dr. King is currently studying the impacts of carbon sequestration on power plant operations and pricing using numerical optimization models.

Dr. Larry Lake (PhD, Chemical Engineering, Rice University) has served on the faculty of The University of Texas Department of Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering since 1978. He brings his expertise in reservoir engineering and his industry experience to a variety of research areas including: enhanced oil recovery, reservoir characterization, geochemical modeling, geochemistry and flow in permeable media. Dr. Lake is a member of the National Academy of Engineering.

Dr. Tip Meckel (PhD, Geology, The University of Texas at Austin) has been a researcher at The University of Texas Bureau of Economic Geology since 2006. His areas of expertise include tectonics, sequence stratigraphy, and structural geology. He is currently a principal investigator on the Texas Offshore Miocene Repository project, which is assessing the feasibility of storing carbon dioxide in appropriate geological formations deep below the Gulf of Mexico.

Dr. Jon Olson (PhD, Applied Earth Sciences, Stanford University) has served on the faculty of The University of Texas Department of Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering since 1995. He brings his expertise in geology and engineering, as well as industry experience, to a variety of research areas including: the applications of rock fracture and continuum mechanics to fractured reservoir characterization, hydraulic fracturing, and rock mechanics.

Dr. Katherine Romanak (PhD, Geology, The University of Texas at Austin) has been a researcher at The University of Texas Bureau of Economic Geology since 2008. She brings her expertise in geochemistry and her various experiences, including a position at the Smithonian Institute's Global Volcanism Program, to a variety of research areas including: geochemistry and isotope systematics of carbon cycling at shallow depths and in freshwater aquifers, soil-gas monitoring and surface gas flux measurements at CO2 sequestration sites, microbial influences on carbon geochemistry in the shallow subsurface, and fate and transport of organic contaminants.

Dr. Changbing Yang (PhD, Hydrogeology, University of La Coruña, La Coruña, Spain) has been a researcher at The University of Texas at Austin since 2008. His areas of expertise is the chemistry and geology of underground aquifers, including developing computer simulation models used to study the flow of groundwater and the interaction between groundwater and the molecules contained in rocks. He has been the scientific lead for several push-pull tests to understand the potential impacts of carbon dioxide on shallow aquifers.